| Course | MAN-4350 Project Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Written assignment 3: leadership and team management |
| Length | About 1,000 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S. in General Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MAN 4350 Module 3
Six Part-Time Members, a Vendor Crew From Michigan and No Formal Authority: Leading the Team Behind a Packing Line
Student Name
B.S. in General Management, Thomas Edison State University
MAN-4350: Project Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Six Part-Time Members, a Vendor Crew From Michigan and No Formal Authority: Leading the Team Behind a Packing Line
The new optical sorter at Mullica Valley, a composite growers' cooperative in Hammonton, New Jersey, will be installed by people who do not report to me. My core team has six members: the maintenance supervisor, the packing-house line lead, the receiving manager, the bookkeeper, an electrician from our usual contractor and a grower who chairs the members' equipment committee. Each gives the project between four and fifteen hours a week. In April a five-person installation crew from the equipment maker in Michigan will join us for three weeks. This assignment appraises the leadership the project needs, plans how the team will form and work, and applies the course's ideas on conflict and negotiation to two problems we already face.
Leadership Attributes the Project Needs
Pinto (2019) argues that project managers lead mainly through influence, because they rarely control the people they need, and he lists traits that successful project leaders tend to share: credibility, the ability to solve problems, tolerance for ambiguity, flexible management style, and strong communication. He also stresses emotional intelligence: a leader notices and manages feelings, both their own and the team's.
Appraising myself against that list is useful. My credibility with the crew and the maintenance shop is high, since I have run the packing house for nine years. My tolerance for ambiguity is lower than it should be: I like certainty, and this project will have a great deal of uncertainty until the equipment is running. My communication with growers is a weakness, because I tend to speak in operational detail when they want to know about cost and risk. Müller and Turner (2007) found that the leadership competencies associated with success differ by type of project, so no single profile suits every project. For this one, I will need to build two habits: reporting to growers in short summaries every two weeks, and making decisions with incomplete information rather than waiting.
Building the Team
Tuckman (1965) proposed four stages for small groups (forming, storming, norming and performing), and Pinto (2019) uses that sequence to explain what project managers can do at each point. Our team is unusual because its members already know each other from the packing house, so forming will be short, but the roles are new. In the first meeting I will set out the goal in a single measurable sentence, show the schedule, and ask each member to describe what the project needs from them and what their regular job will not let them give.
Storming is likely when the plan meets the packing house calendar. I will treat early disagreements as useful information rather than disloyalty. To reach norming, the team will agree on three rules: decisions inside the approved budget are made at the weekly meeting, anyone who misses a task date says so a week ahead, and the grower representative reports to the members' committee in their own words. Hoegl and Gemuenden (2001) found that the quality of teamwork, including communication, coordination, mutual support and effort, was linked to both team performance and members' satisfaction. With part-time members, coordination is the weakest of these, so I will keep a single shared task list and a fifteen-minute call every Tuesday.
The installation crew will join as a separate group with its own leader. Rather than merge the two teams, I will pair each of their technicians with one of our people, so that our maintenance staff learns the machine as it is installed.
Managing Conflict
Pinto (2019) notes that conflict on projects often arises over schedules, priorities and resources, and that it can be productive if handled well. Our first conflict is already visible. The maintenance supervisor uses January to March to rebuild the conveyors and coolers, and the project needs his staff in the same months to prepare foundations, move the old sorting tables and run new drain lines. Both sides have a legitimate claim.
Instead of asking the general manager to rule, I will bring both lists to a meeting and look for a problem-solving outcome. The conveyor work can be split: belts that sit where the new line will go do not need rebuilding, which frees about two weeks of labor. In exchange, the project will pay for a temporary mechanic for three weeks in February from the project contingency. Pinto describes this collaborative approach as the most likely to produce lasting agreements, though it takes more time than forcing or compromising.
Negotiating With the Vendor
Our second problem is the delivery date. The equipment maker's standard lead time would put the machine on our dock on April 20, leaving six weeks for installation and testing before harvest. I want it by April 1. Following the principled negotiation approach that Pinto (2019) summarizes, I will keep personal feelings apart from the substance, look beneath each side's stated demand to what it actually needs and prepare options that serve both.
Our interest is time for testing with real fruit; the vendor's interest is filling its production slots and being paid on schedule. One option is to accept the April 20 date but ask the vendor to ship the clamshell filler, which is built separately, in March, so that half the installation can begin early. Another is to make an extra progress payment in exchange for an earlier slot. Preparing these options before the call gives us something to offer besides a demand.
Conclusion
This project will depend on leadership by influence. My main gaps are tolerance for uncertainty and communication with growers, and I have named the habits I will practice. The team will form quickly but needs clear norms and tight coordination to perform as a part-time group, and the vendor crew will be paired with our staff. The two conflicts already in view, over the maintenance winter and the delivery date, can both be handled by looking at interests and trading what each side can give.
References
Hoegl, M., & Gemuenden, H. G. (2001). Teamwork quality and the success of innovative projects: A theoretical concept and empirical evidence. Organization Science, 12(4), 435-449. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.4.435.10635
Müller, R., & Turner, J. R. (2007). Matching the project manager's leadership style to project type. International Journal of Project Management, 25(1), 21-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.04.003
Pinto, J. K. (2019). Project management: Achieving competitive advantage (5th ed.). Pearson.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022100
Reading the MAN 4350 Module 3 assignment instructions
MAN-4350 assigns one written assignment in every module, along with a discussion and a case study, and Module 3 focuses on leadership and team management, linked to the objectives on the significance of project management and appraising leadership attributes. Expect questions on the traits and competencies of project leaders, how teams develop and how project managers handle conflict and negotiation, all from Pinto's chapters on leadership and on team building. Apply each concept to a team you know, including outside contractors if your project uses them, because the syllabus stresses blending theory with practice. Real names of roles, hours and conflicts make the analysis far more convincing than a hypothetical team.
How this MAN 4350 Module 3 example is built
The sample describes the team precisely, with roles, weekly hours and an outside crew, so the leadership problem is concrete. The leadership section appraises the writer against the textbook's traits and research on leadership by project type, and turns gaps into two habits. The team section applies the four stages to a group whose members already know each other, sets three norms and uses teamwork-quality research to pick coordination as the weak point. The conflict section shows a collaborative settlement with a trade, and the negotiation section prepares options built on each side's interests. Every concept is tied to something the project manager will actually do in the coming weeks, with dates and costs where they apply.
Reading the MAN 4350 Module 3 grading rubric
Each of the six MAN-4350 written assignments is graded from 0 to 100 and together they make up 30 percent of the course grade. For this module, mentors look for a genuine appraisal of leadership attributes rather than a list, accurate use of team development stages and conflict approaches, and applications that fit the situation described. Citing research beyond the textbook, such as studies of leadership or teamwork quality, strengthens the analysis. A clear structure, APA citations that match the references and careful proofreading complete the grade. Showing what you will do differently as a leader, not only what the theory says, lifts a paper to the top range.
MAN 4350 Module 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Listing Tuckman's stages in sequence earns little unless you say what the project manager does at each. Another is treating conflict as something to avoid, when the textbook presents it as a normal and sometimes useful part of projects. Self-appraisals tend to be too flattering; name a real weakness and a plan to improve it. Remember that outside contractors are part of the team you lead, and that their goals may differ from your organization's in ways worth naming. Plan how they will join and leave the team. Our writers can help shape a MAN 4350 leadership and team assignment around your own project team.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
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More MAN 4350 and B.S. in General Management sample papers
- MAN 4350 Module 1: Project Context Written Assignment
- MAN 4350 Module 2: Project Selection Written Assignment
- MAN 4350 Module 4: Scope and Risk Written Assignment
- MAN 4350 Module 5: Scheduling and Cost Written Assignment
- MAN 4350 Module 6: Control and Closeout Written Assignment
MAN 4350 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free MAN 4350 Module 3 sample paper?
The full third written assignment for Project Management is shown above: a leadership self-appraisal, a team-building plan, a conflict settlement and a vendor negotiation for a cooperative's sorting line, with sources.
Why do project managers lead through influence?
In most organizations the people on a project report to functional managers, so the project manager must rely on credibility, communication and relationships rather than formal authority.
What are Tuckman's stages of team development?
Forming, storming, norming and performing, describing how a group moves from orientation through conflict and agreed norms to productive work.
What is principled negotiation?
A method summarized in the textbook that treats relationships and substance separately, looks at the needs behind stated positions, develops options that benefit both sides and relies on fair standards.
Which course objectives does MAN-4350 Module 3 cover?
The significance of project management and the appraisal of leadership attributes.